While most of the recent praise has fallen on John Cena and CM Punk—and rightfully so—there's no denying that Orton and Christian have been holding the fort down over on the blue brand.
Smackdown is widely considered to be the WWE's "B-show," but Orton and Christian have made us forget that at times.
Their feud for the World Heavyweight Championship is arguably the "Feud of the Year" so far, and it's been as good as just about anything we've seen on WWE TV over the last few years.
That's why I decided to take a stroll down memory lane and revisit the greatness that has been Orton vs. Christian.
Where It All Began: Christian Realizes His Dream at Extreme Rules
On the April 14th edition of Smackdown, Christian's best friend Edge announced that he was forced to retire because of serious neck issues, and a 20-man battle royal was held to determine who would face Alberto Del Rio for Edge's vacated World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules.
Christian outlasted 19 other stars to win the bout, and on May 1st at Extreme Rules, he finally fulfilled his lifelong dream.
Fittingly enough, Christian—who rose to fame in the epic TLC matches in the early 2000s—defeated Del Rio in an epic ladder match that ranks as one of the best matches of the year.
When Christian grabbed the World Heavyweight title, you could see the sheer joy and emotion on the face of a man who worked his butt off to get to that moment.
A Man Dejected: Christian's Dream Becomes a Nightmare Just Five Days Later
Given that Mark Henry and The Great Khali were two of the three choices, it was pretty clear that the third one would get the most cheers from the fans. Yep, Randy Orton did.
Long then set up Orton vs. Christian for later in the night, and just five days after reaching the pinnacle of his profession, Christian's dream became a nightmare.
In one of the best TV matches of the year, Orton defeated Christian when he caught him midair with the RKO.
Orton got the 1-2-3 and the World Heavyweight title, and fans around the world cried "bulls**t" as Christian's world came crashing down.
Face vs. Face: Christian Loses His Rematch at over the Limit
That would lead to a huge face vs. face match at Over the Limit, when Christian used his automatic rematch clause in hopes of regaining the World Heavyweight Championship that he thought was rightfully his.
It was a no-go for Christian, though.
He and Orton battled back and forth in another classic match at the pay-per-view, but Christian came up short once again.
After falling victim to the RKO for the second time that month, Christian still shook Orton's hand, though the seeds of a Christian heel turn were certainly planted here.
No. 1 Contender: Christian Loses Triple Threat Match and His Chance at Orton
Cue Teddy Long, who chooses the obvious solution and makes a Triple Threat No. 1 contender's match between Christian, Henry and Sheamus for the show's main event.
The conclusion of the bout went a little something like this: While on the outside of the ring, Henry shoves Orton (who's watching from ringside), Orton goes in the ring to hit the RKO on Henry, and while the ref is getting Orton out of the ring, Christian pins Sheamus...but the ref doesn't see it.
As the ref explains to Christian what happened, Sheamus gets up, Christian turns around, and he gets blasted with the Brogue Kick.
Sheamus pins Christian, and Christian's left with a legitimate gripe as to why he's the rightful No. 1 contender. Nonetheless, Sheamus gets the shot at Orton's title.
A Special Guest: Sheamus Challenges Randy Orton, Christian Begins Heel Turn
In order to prevent any outside interference in the Sheamus/Orton match for the World Heavyweight Championship on the following Smackdown, Teddy Long appoints Christian as the Special Guest Referee.
Christian was largely an impartial referee during the match, until he was inadvertently bumped by Sheamus. That led to Christian "hurting his wrist" while counting Sheamus' post-Brogue Kick pin on Orton.
Sheamus and Christian would begin arguing, and Christian then punched Sheamus, who turned around and walked right into an RKO.
The match was over. Orton had retained and was celebrating the victory when he turned around and got blasted in the face with the title by Christian.
As Smackdown goes off the air, Christian is standing over Orton and saying that he knows he can beat him.
Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to the heel Christian.
No Disqualification: Christian Helps Sheamus Beat Orton
On the following Smackdown, Randy Orton and Sheamus would face each other in the main event, a No Disqualification match.
Not surprisingly, Christian—who earlier in the show revealed that he is now a fully-fledged heel—would interfere in the bout, attempting to hit Orton with the Killswitch.
He'd fail to his finisher, but just after Orton hit Sheamus with the RKO, Chrisian would exact his revenge. He nailed Orton with the World Heavyweight Championship, allowing Sheamus to get the pin and the victory.
As Christian posed over Orton with the title at Smackdown's conclusion, it became pretty clear that Christian and Orton would have a lengthy feud, with Christian working as a very easy-to-hate heel.
Back on Track: Christian Defeats Sheamus to Ensure No. 1 Contender Status
On the June 17th edition of Smackdown, Sheamus claimed that his victory over Orton the previous week should have made him, not Christian, the No. 1 contender.
Oddly enough, it was Christian's own doing that led to Teddy Long making Sheamus vs. Christian for the show's main event. The stipulation: If Sheamus wins, the World Heavyweight Championship match at Capitol Punishment becomes a Triple Threat bout between Orton, Christian and Sheamus.
In the end, that didn't matter, as Christian beat Sheamus and Orton punted the Celtic Warrior in the skull post-match.
At Capitol Punishment, it would be Christian vs. Orton. One-on-one.
Capitol Punishment: Orton Defeats Christian Once Again
At Capitol Punishment, Orton defeated Christian with the RKO for what seemed like the 127th time, but of course, the finish of the bout was not without controversy. It was incredibly clear that Christian's foot was under the rope when Orton pinned him, though the ref did not reverse the decision.
Christian was in shock that the ref couldn't see it, and on the following Smackdown, he gets another shot at the No. 1 contender's spot in the main event match against Kane.
During the bout, it looked like Kane was about to get the victory when Mark Henry ran to the ring, causing a DQ finish.
Teddy Long then came out and made the match a tag team bout, with Henry and Christian teaming up to take on Orton and Kane. The No. 1 contender's spot was still on the line.
Henry would go on to pin Orton, and Christian celebrated as he had won another shot at Orton's gold.
Or did he? After all, Henry pinned Orton. Christian didn't.
Captain Coward: Christian Hides Behind His Legal Team
Since Henry pinned Orton the previous week, the next episode of Smackdown opened with Teddy Long announcing that Orton vs. Henry would start the show, and should Henry win, it might be Henry vs. Orton vs. Christian—or simply Henry vs. Orton—for the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank.
That stipulation proved to mean next to nothing, as Orton defeated Henry, and a contract signing for the Orton/Christian title match would take place later that night.
Only, this time, Christian has an interesting little stipulation in the contract—If he gets screwed again in any way at Money in the Bank, then he gets an immediate rematch for the title.
The confident superstar that he is, Orton signs the contract, and as Christian goes to do the same, Sheamus runs to the ring and lays out both Christian and Orton with Brogue Kicks before tearing up the contract.
Man, Sheamus really wants that world title, huh?
Promo Battle: Christian and Orton in a War of Words
It's two weeks later on Smackdown, and it's been revealed that should Orton get disqualified in his match against Christian at Money in the Bank, then Christian would be crowned the new World Heavyweight Championship.
Thus, the theme of this show was Christian doing everything in his power to try and get Orton to go crazy.
The two started Smackdown with a very good promo war, in which Christian criticized both Orton and his father. You could see the crazed look in Orton's eyes at this point, and it became pretty clear that he was about to snap.
He did so in his main event match against Kane.
Following a number of attempted distractions by Christian, Orton officially lost it, and as Smackdown concluded, the Viper went to town on Kane with a chair.
When Smackdown went off the air, Orton looked like an absolute madman, and Christian had accomplished exactly what he had set out to do—get under Orton's skin.
Twice as Nice: Christian Beats Orton by DQ to Win World Heavyweight Championship
As noted in the last slide, at Money in the Bank Orton would lose the World Heavyweight Championship if he was disqualified.
Thanks to Christian, that's exactly what happened.
At the conclusion of the match, Orton was setting up for the RKO when Christian suddenly spit in Orton's face. Orton began laying into Christian with punches, and then he kicked Christian right in the gonads.
That was it. Orton was DQ'd. Christian was the new World Heavyweight Championship.
Post-match, Orton hit two RKOs on Christian on the Spanish announce table, looking like a crazed lunatic in the process.
Though Orton was the last man standing, Christian left as the world champion.
The Boss Makes the Rules: Triple H Announces Christian vs. Orton at SummerSlam
Cue the World Heavyweight Champion himself, Christian.
Triple H doesn't take kindly to being interrupted by Christian, and a verbal confrontation between the two leads to a blockbuster announcement from the boss.
At SummerSlam, the world title match between Christian and Randy Orton will be a No Holds Barred match, which is essentially the same thing as a No DQ Match—or in layman's terms, the exact opposite stipulation that Orton had for their match at Money in the Bank.
The weasel known as Christian will now have to beat Orton by pinning his shoulders to the mat.
Premature Celebration? Christian Goes Crazy After Pinning Orton
The finish came when Orton was distracted by Truth, allowing Christian to sneak up on Orton and hit the Killswitch for the victory.
Christian then proceeded to celebrate like he won the World Series, and he did an excellent job showing the excitement he felt after finally pinning Orton.
But he was a little too excited? Perhaps.
After all, a victory in a tag team TV match is one thing, but pinning Orton at SummerSlam is another.
Will he be able to do it? And if he does, will that be the final chapter in the seemingly never-ending saga of Christian vs. Orton?
Tune in to SummerSlam to find out.
Source : bleacherreport.com
All photos are taken from : wwe.com
